U.S. Senator John Barrasso: Energy & Mining are Lifeblood of the Wyoming Economy

U.S. SENATOR JOHN BARRASSO: ENERGY & MINING ARE LIFEBLOOD OF WYOMING'S ECONOMY

Energy and mining are the lifeblood of Wyoming’s economy. Our state’s tremendous natural resources create good paying jobs and support entire communities. We are America’s leading producer of coal, uranium, trona, and bentonite. As members of the Wyoming Mining Association, you know how important coal is to our state. The people of Wyoming are proud of our mining heritage. Your hard work powers America’s economy and provides abundant, affordable, and secure energy to American families.

The Biden administration has declared war on Wyoming’s energy workers by trying to eliminate coal production through regulations and executive orders. They want to slam the door shut on American energy independence. This will hurt Wyoming communities, kill jobs, and cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. These are critical funds we use to pay for schools, roads, and other essential services.

There is a better way. As the Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I believe innovation is the key to protect Wyoming’s coal jobs. That’s why I am big supporter of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies. These groundbreaking technologies have the potential to remove carbon dioxide emissions from the exhaust of coal-fired power plants and straight out of the air. These emissions can be transformed to create new products including – clothing, carbon fiber, building materials like cement and concrete, and even hand sanitizer. Carbon dioxide can also be used to extract more energy, after which, it will be stored underground. Wyoming is leading the way on the development of carbon capture. Located Outside of Gillette at Basin Electric’s coal-fired power plant sits the Integrated Test Center. The state-of-the-art center provides space for research teams to test carbon capture technologies. It gives researchers the opportunity to use carbon dioxide emissions directly from the coal-fired power plant. Last year, I worked with senators from both parties to pass legislation to support the kind of work being done at the Integrated Test Center. Now law, my bill called the USE IT Act will help speed up the government permitting of carbon capture infrastructure and will support the researchers developing these important technologies. This work will create new markets for Wyoming coal. At the same time, I am working to support coal-to-products development. While coal continues to help keep the lights on across the county, it’s more than just a power source. Carbon from coal can be used in products as diverse as water filters, automobile bodies, bikes, and building products. The development of both carbon capture technologies and coal-toproducts will promote the long-term use of Wyoming’s abundant coal reserves. Wyoming is blessed with abundant natural resources. We can’t leave that energy buried in the ground. I will continue to support this important work. At the same time, we also need Wyoming’s uranium. Nuclear power is a critical part of America’s energy mix. In December, President Trump signed my legislation to help protect Wyoming’s uranium producers from Russian market interference and to create a stockpile of American uranium. The creation and funding of a national uranium reserve is long overdue. This reserve will help preserve and strengthen uranium production in Wyoming. It will ensure America will always have the fuel it needs to power our nuclear reactors. Thank you for the important work that you do and I look forward to continuing to work with the members of the Wyoming Mining Association.

BY: U.S. SENATOR JOHN BARRASSO